COLDWATER — Shawn Haller, 37, will return to prison to serve another 23 months to 10 years for possession of meth.

Branch County Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady said Haller was one of a few people who had served a federal sentence plus state time — and that the time did not stop Haller's involvement with the drug.

Haller was on bond for a charge related to a marijuana grow operation at his sister’s Coldwater home when he was stopped in September after he tried to steal lye at Family Fare market. The chemical is used to make meth.

A coffee filter with meth on it and a glass pipe used to smoke meth were found in Haller's car. He pleaded guilty to possession.

Defense attorney Victor Bland made a plea for probation indicating Haller was in treatment and ready to turn his life around and care for a longtime girlfriend with cancer.

Prosecutor Ralph Kimble said Haller had already had a break when meth lab charges — which could have sent him to prison for 40 years — were reduced to simple possession.

"His record and action speak for themselves," Kimble said. "His bad attributes bring down those around him."

Kimble noted that several of those with whom Haller had worked at Bella Vista golf course faced meth charges.

"I know now what needs to be done," Haller stated. "I am ready to stay sober and give to society."

Haller was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo in 2000 to nine years, two months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Paroled early in July 2006, Haller's parole was revoked and he was sentenced in July 2007 to more two years prison for possession and use of meth.

Released late in 2009, Haller began violating parole almost immediately by failing to report and testing positive for meth when he did report. Released last year, he again went back to meth and other drugs.